Bend Until You Break
by tjmack
Summary: It's a bad start to the day, when your roommate is sick. Emma Swan is about to figure this out.


_**A/N: Special thanks to Banana Flavored Lemonade for beta'ing this for me! Enjoy!**_

* * *

Mary groaned, her eyes opening to slits. The sunlight burning through her curtain causing the drum beat in her head to speed up in time. Lifting her near, dead weight arms up, she pressed two fingers to each temple and rubbed gentle circles. She had seen this coming. Aside from the fact that winter had slammed into Storybrooke hard and fast, she had felt increasingly sluggish throughout the day yesterday. Mary had even gone to bed only an hour after dinner, claiming to have a headache, even if it wasn't a full blown lie.

The alarm clock finally blared to life and Mary Margaret glared at the offending device. "I hate you." She sighed. Slowly, she removed the blankets that she had cocooned herself into, and regretted it almost immediately. The chill in her room ran straight down to her bones, and Mary immediately started to shiver. Reaching out a sluggish hand, she turned off the alarm clock. She eyed the comforter on her bed for an extra moment, contemplating bring it with her, but gave up that idea rather quickly.

Running a hand over her head, trying to will away the constant, slow, throb that seemed to run the full length of her head, Mary Margaret slowly made her way out of her room. Her roommate sat at the table, the paper in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

"Morning." Mary Margaret said, making a face at how stuffy her voice sounded. If the complete body ache, and constant headache wasn't enough a sign that she was sick, then the voice gave it away.

"You feeling alright?" Emma looked up, concern etched on the younger woman's features.

Mary Margaret knew she must have looked bad, if Emma was worried about her. She waved her off, it took a great amount of concentration, as she swayed slightly. Emma reached out a hand to steady her, eying her carefully. Mary Margaret attempted to laugh it off. "Oh yeah, I feel fine." She forced a smile as her vision swam under murky depths that caused her to sway once again.

Emma stood up, and placed her hands on either side of Mary's shoulders. "Either you had way to much to drink last night—which I know for a fact that you did not—or you're sick. Since you went to bed around seven o'clock last night, and all you drank yesterday was water-"

"Yeah, okay-" Mary sighed as a new wave of dizziness hit her. She felt Emma leading her to a chair, in which she eyed the blond carefully, using her eyes to thank her as she tried to regain control over her rebelling body. "Perhaps I'm not feeling too good."

Emma's eyebrow cocked questioningly. "Perhaps? I'm fairly certain that we have forgone perhaps, Mare."

Mary rolled her eyes, "It's nothing a nice hot cup of cocoa and some breakfast won't fix."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, sure. I've heard the speech before, Mary. Hell, I've given that same speech to myself, numerous times. It's always more than cocoa and breakfast can fix."

Mary groaned. "I'm going to be late if we keep arguing."

Emma smiled suspiciously. "Oh no. You are not going into work today. All that will accomplish is getting all the kids in your class sick, including Henry. Not happening. Here is what's going to happen; you're going to march your butt back to bed and get more sleep. I'm going to run to the station and check the answering machine, and forward all station calls to my cell phone. After I do that, so long as nothing major has happened over night, I am going to run to the store and pick up some soup and juice for you."

Mary Margaret snorted a laugh. "For not wanting to be a mother, you sure do sound an awful lot like one."

Emma groaned. "Just go to bed-" Emma paused, turning back toward her roommate. Making a face, she sighed. "What kind of soup do you like?"

Mary Margaret laughed lightly. "Chicken noodle is fine, and please for the sake of our apartment—just grab some from Granny's. I kind of like this place, and I've seen your attempts of making toast. The thought of you cooking scares me—greatly."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Just go." Emma pointed in the direction of Mary Margaret's room. "I'll be back soon."

Mary waved her off sluggishly as she disappeared in her room. Emma waited a couple of minutes, before poking her head into Mary's room and smiling. The petite woman was sprawled out on her bed, taking up nearly every inch of the large mattress, a soft snore erupting from her mouth. "Yeah, something cocoa can cure my ass." Emma grumbled, as she buttoned up her jacket and headed for the door.

* * *

Mary Margaret moaned herself awake. The sound of something slamming against the linoleum counter tops had brought her out of her drool inducing sleep. Groaning, as she attempted to push herself into a sitting position from laying flat on her stomach, Mary Margaret noticed that there was a nice, large drool puddle on her pillow. Rolling her eyes, Mary swiped a hand against her still wet lips. "Stupid cold." She mumbled, as she pulled herself to a standing position. Her body swayed carelessly as she took careful steps toward the kitchen.

Finding herself standing at the cusp of the kitchen, despite feeling like she had been run over repeatedly while she had been asleep, Mary Margaret smiled at the sight in front of her. "I thought I told you to get the soup from Granny's?" Her nose wrinkled at the nasally sound of her voice.

"Oh God. I woke you up. Shit!" Emma cursed as the broth that was bubbling in one of the saucepans gurgled itself onto her hand. Shaking the excess burning liquid from her burning appendage, Emma threw on the tap and ran her hand under it. "I'm so sorry, Mare. I am so bad at this." Emma sighed, exasperation written on her drawn face.

"How long have I been asleep?" Mary asked after waving off Emma's apology. She walked forward carefully and seated herself at the kitchen table.

"A couple of hours. I would have attempted this sooner, but I know you need sleep."

Mary nodded, regretting it instantly as her vision blurred and the room began to spin. "Ugh." Mary mumbled, as she laid her head against the cool table surface.

"Mare. You okay?" Emma called out. She eyed the concoction on the stove. After making sure that the broth wasn't going to attempt to attack again, she walked quickly over to the table and knelt down beside Mary. Her hand reached out and landed on Mary's forehead. "Shit!" Emma said, realizing how loud her voice was. "Dammit." She muttered, as Mary rolled her eyes.

"I'm starting to think you have tourettes or something." Mary attempted to chuckle, but moaned again.

"Mare?"

Mary slowly lifted her head. "What are the chances I'll make it to the bathroom?" Mary asked questioningly.

"Not happening." Emma shook her head, as she helped Mary stand up, and led her to the newly cleared out sink. Mary rested her arms on the edge of the sink basin as her stomach continued to tumble uncomfortably. Another groan escaped her lips, before she lurched forward. The minimal contents of her stomach spilled out into the sink. Mary heaved a couple more times, until they were finally just hiccups left behind. Emma kept her hand on Mary's back the entire time.

As Mary pulled away from the sink, Emma handed her a towel she had grabbed with her free hand. "How are you feeling?" Emma asked, as Mary took her time wiping her face. As she pulled the towel away, Emma saw the tears sliding down her face. "Oh, Mare." Emma groaned. Emma Swan did not do tears. Crying made her uncomfortable, mainly because those who were crying expected to be comforted, and Emma didn't do comfort. Then again, Emma had been in this position. Emma knew how it felt to puke your guts out and feel like you were dying. It was in times like that, and only that, that Emma really felt like she wanted or needed anyone. It never lasted long, and she always regretted feeling so weak and vulnerable. Mary wasn't Emma, Mary always wanted to have someone around. It was just the way she was wired and Emma knew that all she really needed and wanted in that moment was comfort. Emma also knew that she was the only one that could give it to her.

"It's fine, Emma." Mary finally forced out, as she turned away from Emma. She could see the internal fight the younger woman was waging on herself. Mary wasn't going to put her through that. Not when Emma was going to be forced to clean the sink, again—apparently. It was then that Mary took in the sight of the apartment, and turned back to the blond and smiled. "You cleaned." It wasn't a question, just a statement. Emma nodded, and returned Mary's smiled. Her mouth opened to say something, as Mary's legs gave out.

"Shit!" Emma yelled out again, as she dived forward and caught Mary by her underarms before she planted herself, face first, on the linoleum floor. Sinking both of them to the floor, Emma let Mary rest against her. The heat radiating from Mary's body scared Emma. She had her fair share of fevers over the years, but she had never been on this side of sickness. Emma knew what fevers felt like from Mary's point of view. It was no cake walk, in fact, with temperatures as high as Mary's more than likely was, walking wasn't something that came easily. "Mare, do you think if I help you, we can get you back into the chair? I need to check your temperature." Emma could have yelled at herself. That should have been the first thing she did this morning. She was horrible at this, 'taking care of someone else', thing. It made her doubt her abilities to take care of Henry. It made her wonder if she hadn't made the right choice, after all.

Emma made sure that Mary Margaret was settled in the chair, before standing up and rooting around for the thermometer.

"Furthest drawer to the left. Closest to the fridge." Mary mumbled.

Emma nodded and followed Mary's directions. She located the tiny device quickly and turned it on. Returning to Mary, she placed the correct end under her tongue and waited for it to beep. Removing the device, she eyed Mary Margaret sternly as she attempted to make a move for it. Looking at the read out on the device, Emma's nose wrinkled. "Advil?" Emma asked, knowing it was the most used medicine for fevers.

"Same drawer." Mary drawled. Her head slumping forward slightly. Emma groaned, walking backward, her eyes fixed on Mary, she reached the drawer and dug through it quickly before producing the correct number of pills. Quickly fixing her roommate a glass of water, she walked quickly back to Mary, who had started to slide off of her seat. "Alright, let's pop these pills and go back to sleep." Mary nodded slightly, her eyes drooped close. She grabbed the pills and put them in her mouth before chasing them down with the glass of water.

Emma then helped Mary up, and let her rest most of her weight on Emma's shoulder. Getting her back into bed seemed to be a bit of a challenge, but she finally untangled the woman from the blanket before covering her up. "Sleep." Emma simply said. The sound of sizzling could be heard, as Emma cursed again. Mary smiled sleepily at her roommate's colorful language as she quickly lulled back to sleep.

* * *

Emma slid into Mary Margaret's room, and watched as her roommate twitched. For the past hour she had heard mumblings coming from Mary's room, but fevers tend to cloud your dreams. It can make things that aren't real, feel real, and Mary needed her sleep. Emma figured as long as it didn't escalate into anything worse, that she could let Mary sleep through it. However, after the mumbling didn't dissipate after an hour, Emma figured it might be better to wake the slightly older woman up, Emma needed to check her temperature again anyway.

Standing just beside Mary's bed, Emma watched in horror as Mary started to scream, her body thrashing on the bed. Emma lurched forward, her hands pinning Mary's body to the bed. "Mare. Mary! Wake up, it's Emma. Come on, Mary!" Emma called out, tears welling up in her eyes, knowing there was nothing else she could do to help her roommate.

Finally her eyes snapped open, fear etched on her face. Her breathing was hitched slightly. Emma didn't think twice, as she pulled Mary into her arms and held her tightly. "Ssh. It's okay, Mare. I'm here." Emma wasn't entirely sure where all of her confidence had come from, but at that particular time she was glad for it.

Mary panted into her ear, as she tried to regain her composure. Finally, when her breathing was under control again, Mary pulled back. Tears flushed against her eyes as she stared at Emma. "I'm sorry, Emma."

Emma held up her hand. "It's fine. You wanna talk about it?" Emma asked, her eyebrow cocked slightly.

Mary shook her head. "I'd much rather forget it."

Emma nodded. "Oh, I've had those dreams before." Emma flashed her a reassuring smile. "It's time again." Emma said, as Mary wrinkled her nose, before nodding. Emma placed the device in Mary's mouth and waited for it to beep. Pulling it back out, she smiled. "Almost normal."

Mary sighed in relief. "I am feeling a little better."

Emma grinned. "Must be a twenty-four hour thing. Think you can hold down some soup broth? I—uh-may have messed up the rest. Sorry." Emma sighed, dejectively.

Mary reached out a hand to cup Emma's chin, forcing her younger roommate to look at her. "Thank you. For someone that's relied solely on herself, you're pretty good at taking care of others."

Emma nodded. "If you say so."

"I do." Mary said firmly.

Emma merely shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. "Let's get you up, and in the kitchen. Get some liquids in you."

Mary laughed lightly. "Yes, mom."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "I think you got that backward." She laughed.

"Oh—right." Mary said, drawing out the word.

Mary allowed Emma to help pull her into a standing position, but shook off Emma's attempt at helping her walk. "I think I got it." Mary said, flashing a grateful smile at her friend.

Emma walked behind Mary, just in case she attempted to drop to the floor like a sack of rocks again. They made it to the kitchen without incident, and Mary sat, obediently, at the table and waited for Emma to serve her soup broth, crackers, and a glass of water. After Emma was sure that Mary was situated, she sat down beside her. "So-" Emma picked at the table in front her, suddenly a sly smile crossed her lips before she looked up. "You have so used up your sick card for the year. Next time, the apartment might not survive—especially if I try to cook."

Mary stared at her, before laughing. "To be fair, I did ask you to get the soup from Granny's."

Emma nodded. "True."

"So—mom. When can I go back to work?"

Emma glared at her friend. "Someone is definitely feeling better." Emma muttered. "When you're fever breaks—completely. I do not need a sick child to take care of—not this soon."

Mary's eyebrow raised. "Wouldn't that be Regina's job?"

"Yeah, like she'll have time to take care of him. She's much to busy trying to run me out of town!" Emma shouted, before lowering her voice. "Anyway. Do you really want to make all of those poor kids, sick?"

Mary sighed, as she sipped at the broth in front of her. "No. I suppose not."

"Good. Now, eat your broth. Maybe afterward we can watch a movie."

Mary smiled. "Oh, mom. You're the best!"

Emma groaned and shook her head. "Watch it, Mary. Next time, I might just leave you here alone." Mary laughed lightly, shaking her head before shoving a cracker in her mouth. Emma knew the threat was a lie when she said it. If there was any truth behind her words, then Emma would have left her behind today. Emma smiled softly, her walls were definitely making a downward descent, and for the first time, she wasn't afraid of who was going to get in.


End file.
